Festivals of Faith: Reflections on the Jewish Holidays is a collection of Rabbi Norman Lamm’s thoughts on the Jewish holidays culled principally from his sermons and divrei Torah delivered while he was Rabbi of The Jewish Center in New York City. Each discourse is an individual gem, and together they constitute a treasure trove of profound insights and inspiring teachings.

Spanning the entire year, Festivals of Faith contains several selections for each holiday. Those familiar with Rabbi Lamm and his work will find numerous examples of Rabbi Lamm’s consummate ability to captivate his audience with intellectually compelling concepts masterfully expressed in his eloquent style.

Celebrate the holidays with Rabbi Lamm as they take on new meaning in the hands of this master of Jewish thought and tradition.

Excerpt

When man performs a mitzvah, he in effect raises himself and his environment to the order of eternal significance in God’s eyes, to a level which lasts forever; he incorporates himself into Torah, which is both from Heaven and is Heaven, and which therefore cannot be ravaged by temporal disintegration.For instance, take the beauties of nature. Wisdom tells us how gorgeous, how complex, how useful, how interrelated is the whole natural world—live it fully! Science investigates it; philosophy exclaims upon its aesthetics. Prophecy responds coldly: So what? All passeth away. The endless cycles mean that it is all meaningless. It is sham. It is illusion. Torah responds: You both are wrong. Man should enjoy beauty and nature, but not as an automatic activity. It requires the act of being mekaddesh, sanctifying beauty, and then its significance will endure even after the physical objects which we treasure rot and decay. Thus, when man takes the arba minim, the cluster of species on Sukkot, and cherishes their quality of hadar, beauty, that beauty lasts forever, and every appreciation of beauty in his life is exalted thereby, to endure endlessly.

About the AuthorRabbi Norman Lamm, Chancellor of Yeshiva University and Rosh HaYeshiva of its affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, is one of the most gifted and profound thinkers of the Modern Orthodox community. He was the founding editor of Tradition, the journal of Orthodox thought published by the Rabbinical Council of America, and to this day convenes the Orthodox Forum, a think tank of rabbis, academicians, and community leaders that meets annually to discuss topics of concern in the Orthodox community. Before assuming the presidency of Yeshiva University, Rabbi Lamm served for many years as Rabbi of The Jewish Center, one of New York City’s most prominent and vibrant Orthodox synagogues. A prolific author in the field of Jewish philosophy and law, a distinguished academician, and a charismatic pulpit rabbi, Rabbi Lamm has made, and continues to make, an extraordinary impact on the Jewish community. With a rare combination of penetrating scholarship and eloquence of expression, he has successfully presented a Torah view of contemporary Jewish life that speaks movingly to all.

About the EditorDavid Shatz is Professor of Philosophy at Yeshiva University, editor of The Torah u-Madda Journal, and editor of the series MeOtzar HoRav: Selected Writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He has edited, co-edited, or authored fourteen books and has published over sixty articles and reviews, dealing with both general and Jewish philosophy. Professor Shatz was ordained at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and earned his Ph.D. with distinction in general philosophy from Columbia University. He is a member of the Orthodox Forum Steering Committee and of the Editorial Board of Tradition. In recognition of his achievements as a scholar and teacher, Dr. Shatz was awarded the Presidential Medallion at Yeshiva Unviersity. He was present when many of the sermons in this book were originally delivered at The Jewish Center.

Associate EditorSimon Posner is Executive Editor of OU Press and editor of the highly acclaimed Koren Mesorat HaRav Kinot, a joint publication of OU Press and Koren Publishers Jerusalem. An honors graduate of Yeshiva University and of Harvard Law School, he spent many years practicing corporate law in New York City before joining OU Press. He received his ordination from Yeshivat Eretz Yisrael where he studied with Rabbi Yehuda Gershuni.People who buy this book may also be interested in The Royal Table: A Passover Haggadah by Rabbi Norman Lamm. Learn about this book here: link.

]]>https://www.ou.org/oupress/product/festivals-of-faith-reflections-on-the-jewish-holidays/feed/0In the Narrow Places: Daily Inspiration for the Three Weekshttps://www.ou.org/oupress/product/in-the-narrow-places-daily-inspiration-for-the-three-weeks/
https://www.ou.org/oupress/product/in-the-narrow-places-daily-inspiration-for-the-three-weeks/#commentsFri, 12 Jul 2013 21:35:30 +0000http://production.ou.org/oupress/products-page/uncategorized/In the Narrow Places: Daily Inspiration for the Three Weeks

by Dr. Erica Brown

Hardcover, ISBN 978-159-264-3400 $22.95$19.51

Co-published with Maggid

Dr. Erica Brown is one of the foremost Jewish educators of our time. Through her writing, study groups and adult education classes, she is helping people rethink Jewish tradition, become inspired Jewish leaders and revitalize Judaism itself.

In In the Narrow Places, Dr. Brown brings her extraordinary teaching skills to the subject of the Three Weeks, the period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. For each day of the Three Weeks, she presents a short, inspirational essay based on biblical texts followed by a kavana—a spiritual focus that involves reflection, imagination or action—to transform these somber days of remembrance into a period of introspection and spiritual growth. Alongside the traditional prophecies of doom and consolation traditionally read during the Three Weeks, In the Narrow Places offers a new process for rebuilding and a re-affirmation of hope.

Dr. Erica Brown is a writer and educator who works as the scholar-in-residence for the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and consults for the Jewish Agency and other Jewish non-profits.Previously a Jerusalem Fellow, Erica is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation, an Avi Chai Fellow, winner of the Ted Farber Professional Excellence Award, and the recipient of the 2009 Covenant Award for her work in education. Erica has degrees from Yeshiva University, University of London, Harvard University, and Baltimore Hebrew University. She has served as an adjunct professor at American University and George Washington University and lectures widely on subjects of Jewish interest and leadership.

The ten days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, the Aseret Yemei Teshuva, are fraught with tension as we try to focus on teshuva. But how genuine is our repentance? How sincere is our quest? In her remarkable new book, Erica Brown plumbs the depths of human nature as she explores the questions that swirl around the teshuva process. This is a book targeted to contemporary Jews with contemporary problems, from eating disorders to existential angst. This is a book that will grab your attention and not let go.

The book is divided into ten chapters, one for each day of Aseret Yemei Teshuva, with each chapter devoted to self-improvement in one particular area. In her compelling style, Dr. Brown marshals traditional Jewish sources as well as literature, psychology, and other disciplines to make her motivational and inspirational points.

Each chapter is followed by texts for additional study from Maimonides’ Laws of Repentance, Rabbi Moshe Haim Luzzatto’s The Path of the Just, and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook’s The Lights of Repentance. Each chapter also concludes with a “Life Homework” section containing real life behavioral suggestions incorporating the lesson of the chapter.

Dealing with the details of religious ritual observance is not often the subject of public discussion by prominent politicians. Senator Joseph Lieberman, who moves confidently in the highest echelons of political office, has maintained his observance of the Jewish Sabbath throughout his years in the government. The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath is Senator Lieberman’s exploration of the profound impact observance of the Sabbath has had on him. In the book, he shares his experiences, some humorous and some serious, drawn from a lifetime of public service, as he combined loyalty to his faith with responsibility to his office. Senator Lieberman’s reflections on the significance of the Sabbath and how Sabbath observance has enriched his life and the lives of those around him are a call to spirituality to those in high office as well as an inspiration to the man and woman of the street.

About the Author

Senator Joe Lieberman is a United States senator representing Connecticut. As the 2000 Democratic vice-presidential candidate, he became the first Jewish man in American history to run for national office on a major party ticket. Senator Lieberman lives in Connecticut and Washington, D.C., with his wife Hadassah.

Without a doubt, the Jewish holidays are the high points of the Jewish calendar. Purim is no exception, with its whirlwind of Megillah reading, skits, costumes, mishloach manot, and general frenetic activity bordering on the frivolous. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Chancellor and former President of Yeshiva University, has been sensitizing the Jewish community to deeper levels of meaning within the holidays for years, and his new book, Majesty and Mystery , a commentary on Megillat Esther , searches for the deeper meaning of Purim that lies beneath all the fun and frolic.

Published by the OU Press, Majesty and Mystery is a compelling contemporary commentary consisting of Rabbi Lamm’s insights on Megillat Esther and the Purim holiday, gleaned from the vast corpus of his oral and written offerings. Rabbi Lamm’s commentary combines his Talmudic erudition with his renowned eloquence, creating a commentary that is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally rewarding. Together with several complete derashot on other “days of thanksgiving,” this new presentation of Rabbi Lamm’s thought provides a broad canvas on which he portrays, in his inimitable style, God’s repeated salvation of His people — a salvation which is sometimes clear and bold, at others times ambiguous and obscure. The holiday of Purim takes on new and deeper meaning with Rabbi Lamm’s keen insight and nuanced perspective, and Majesty and Mystery constitutes a veritable treasure trove of profound insights and inspiring teachings.

Majesty and Mystery joins Rabbi Lamm’s most recent books, The Royal Table, a commentary on the Passover Haggadah; and Festivals of Faith: Reflections on the Jewish Holidays, in enriching our appreciation of the sanctity of holidays.

The Book of Esther can easily masquerade as a child’s tale. There’s a villain out to hang Mordechai and murder his countrymen; a king who enjoys drinking; and a beautiful and noble queen. There are assassins, palace intrigue and a climactic battle scene — and a happy ending, to boot. What more could you ask for in a good child’s story?

The holiday associated with the book can seem child-like, too. Purim is celebrated with costumes, carnivals, and abundant merriment. Kids dress up as Esther, Mordechai, Haman and Achashveirosh, wearing plastic hats and cellophane scepters. Purim is the great holiday of make-believe.

All this make believe, though, can have unintended consequences. Chief among them is the fact that many of us are likely to remain with childlike views of Purim and the Megillah long after we’ve turned adults. Our perspective upon Mordechai and Esther and their struggle can easily remain as one-dimensional as the face paint we use to impersonate these people in costume.

In this book, Rabbi Fohrman invites the reader to look at the Book of Esther with fresh eyes; to join him, as it were, on a guided adventure — a close reading of the ancient biblical text. In so doing, he reveals another Purim story; a richer, deeper narrative — more suited perhaps, to the eyes ofan adult than to a child. As layers of meaning are gradually revealed, Esther’s hidden story comes alive in a vibrant, unexpected way — offering the reader a fascinating and stirring encounter with the queen whose costume they wore as children — the queen they thought they knew.

Praise for the Book:

In his lectures and in his writings, Rabbi David Fohrman accomplishes something unique. He combines elements of surprise and ingenuity with the authentic ring of truth. He did this with his first book, The Beast that Crouches at the Door — and he has done it once more here, with the The Queen You Thought You Knew. Rabbi Fohrman’s latest offering provides a stirring and creative new look at the story of Queen Esther; it is sure to enrich, enliven and refresh the reader’s experience of Purim.–Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President, Emeritus, Orthodox Union

About the Author

Rabbi David Fohrman lectures internationally on Biblical themes. He heads the Curriculum Initiative of the Areivim Philanthropic Group, and directs the Hoffberger Institute for Text Study. He currently resides in Woodmere, NY with his wife and children, where he also serves as resident scholar at the Young Israel of Woodmere.Rabbi Fohrman’s first book, The Beast that Crouches at the Door, was a finalist for the 2007 National Jewish Book Award. In earlier years, Rabbi Fohrman served as a senior editor and writer for ArtScroll’s Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud, and taught Biblical themes at the Johns Hopkins University. His recorded lectures are available at rabbifohrman.com.

The Passover Haggadah is perhaps the most popular Jewish liturgical book after the siddur. Each year families gather around their tables to retell the story of the Exodus of the nascent Jewish community from Egypt, using an ancient text made ever-relevant by each generation’s added commentaries. Now the OU Press has the honor of publishing Rabbi Norman Lamm’s Haggadah commentary, a work of brilliant insights expressed in Rabbi Lamm’s inimitable style, articulate and engaging, while sensitive and moving.

For this commentary, Rabbi Lamm’s weekly sermons and divrei Torah delivered while he was Rabbi of The Jewish Center have been culled for his insights on the Haggadah and the Passover holiday. Together with relevant selections from his written works, they make up this new and compelling commentary on the Haggadah. We now have the opportunity on Passover evening to join Rabbi Lamm at his Royal Table and retell the story of the Exodus with new understanding.

Excerpt

The festival of Passover is the celebration of our freedom. Passover not only commemorates an act of liberation in the dim past, but reminds us that the aspiration to and striving for freedom are unending tasks. All of Jewish history is, in a manner of speaking, a long record of freedom lost and regained; a drama of exile and redemption; of freedom and slavery. It is as if Jewish history were really a large Seder table, where sometimes we drink the “Four Cups,” and are heady with freedom—and then bite into the bitter herbs and experience the agony of subjugation; where now we practice hesevah, inclining in a manner of aristocracy, and then taste the humiliation of the haroset. And sometimes, perhaps most times, life is more like the matzah—a peculiar and paradoxical blending of both motifs, of freedom and slavery.

About the AuthorRabbi Norman Lamm, Chancellor of Yeshiva University and Rosh HaYeshiva of its affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, is one of the most gifted and profound thinkers of the Modern Orthodox community. He was the founding editor of Tradition, the journal of Orthodox thought published by the Rabbinical Council of America, and to this day convenes the Orthodox Forum, a think tank of rabbis, academicians, and community leaders that meets annually to discuss topics of concern in the Orthodox community. Before assuming the presidency of Yeshiva University, Rabbi Lamm served for many years as Rabbi of The Jewish Center, one of New York City’s most prominent and vibrant Orthodox synagogues. A prolific author in the field of Jewish philosophy and law, a distinguished academician, and a charismatic pulpit rabbi, Rabbi Lamm has made, and continues to make, an extraordinary impact on the Jewish community. With a rare combination of penetrating scholarship and eloquence of expression, he has successfully presented a Torah view of contemporary Jewish life that speaks movingly to all.

Edited By

The commentary was compiled and edited by Dr. Joel B. Wolowelsky, Dean of the Faculty at the Yeshivah of Flatbush. He is associate editor of Tradition and the series MeOtzar HoRav: Selected Writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He is a member of the steering committee of the Orthodox Forum and serves as a member of various professional advisory boards, including the Bar Ilan University Lookstein Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora, the Boston Initiative for Excellence in Jewish Day Schools, the Pardes Educators Program in Jerusalem, and Atid: the Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions.

“The Seder Night: An Exalted Evening” presents the full text of the Haggadah with a comprehensive commentary straight from the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

The commentary on the Haggadah — which draws from the entire corpus of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s writings and lectures — has been expertly and lovingly edited by Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kashrus Division and devoted disciple of the Rav.

New for the second edition!

The new, revised edition features the full text of Shir HaShirim with the Rav’s commentary on Shir HaShirim.

The insights you’ll learn and share will transform
the Seder Night into an “Exalted Evening”!

Few of our prayers arouse as much nostalgic appeal as Birkat HaChodesh, the joyful proclamation of the new month. Yet this familiar tefillah abounds with intriguing questions.

What is the source for reciting a special prayer on the Shabbat before the new month?

What is the connection between Birkat HaChodesh and the sanctification of the new moon in previous times by the beit din, based on eyewitness testimony?

Why is it customary to announce the astronomical calculation of the molad and what is the significance of the obscure mathematical computations associated with the molad?

Why does the chazan hold a sefer Torah?

What is the significance of reciting “Chaverim kol Yisrael”?

These are just some of the issues explored by Rabbi Elchanan Adler in this engaging work. Also featured in the book are a line-by-line explanation of the text of Birkat HaChodesh, as well as an informative annotated bibliography which lists all the works and authors cited in the book. Geared toward the scholar and layperson alike, this book is a boon for all who are interested in a greater understanding and appreciation of our liturgy.